The creation and interpretation of an elemental database for Chinese traditional herbal remedies

Scientific advances based on the study of natural products and materials are an active and fruitful area of research. For example, the discovery of drug leads from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), in particular, has resulted in a number of successful therapeutic agents that are in use worldwide. However, most of the active molecules that have been identified and further developed have been organic. Given the emerging area of bioinorganic chemistry/medicinal inorganic chemistry, it is now recognized that small molecule inorganic species play an equally important role in biology. In this regard, there has been very little research, if any, conducted into the search for bioactive, small molecule, metallo-species in natural products or traditional medicines, that might contribute to their reputed therapeutic value and that might have potential for drug development. This project represents a first step towards correcting this imbalance. Therefore, a strategy has been devised and is presented whereby existing bioinorganic/medical inorganic chemistry knowledge may be reconciled with Traditional Chinese Medical information that might facilitate the identification of such bioactive, small molecule, metallo-species in such natural products. Central to this strategy is the creation of an appropriate elemental database across a carefully selected library of well-characterized Chinese medicinal herbal substances.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

other

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

rmaster

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Victoria University

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Wu, Hongli

• 0304 Medicinal and Bimolecular Chemistry
• 1104 Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• College of Science and Engineering

Language dc:language

en